Military US Agency Increases Android Security Through Invincea Solutions

Although Google posted a watchdog for extra security in the Google Play Store, Android is not still considered safe enough… at least by US military standards. Thus, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has contracted the company Invincea to increase the security of Android tablets and smartphones.

This way soldiers can use the devices securely in combat without having to fear hackers. Invincea has already been testing some software, used to lock down Android devices used by 3k soldiers in Afghanistan. This way the information that’s lost on captured devices won’t be accessible to the enemy. There’s a $21 million grant that supports the development of technology isolating malicious web apps, that are usually hidden in texts, games, social networking add-ons and more software.

Usually such malware hides in the background and controls the device and data on it. Just so you get an idea of what’s going on security firm Webroot found that Android apps tracked by them increased in numbers by 250% in January this year, with more than 1,400 samples found. Up to 400 were circulating in July 2011. Now in the middle of 2012 there are already 12,000 bad apps tracked by Webroot alone. In the meantime, Apple has excellent control of iOS, so score one for them, nil for Android.